Workshop on Magic of Millets Held at Coimbatore Campus

Thursday, November 19, 2015 - 09:35

A one day workshop on Magic of Millets was organized for faculty and staff members of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Coimbatore campus on November 6, 2015. The event was organized by the Food, Nutrition and Health Education Center at Amrita as part of World Food Day celebrations.

The workshop was organised with the objective to promote millet based food consumption. Millets are richer in fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals than rice and wheat. They have a lower glycemic index and make one feel full for a long time. They are easy to cook and eco-friendly. Taking into consideration the above aspects, the objectives of the workshop were:

To promote organic millets and recipes

Create awareness on health benefits of organic millets.

Demonstration of millet based recipes.

The workshop was led by two key resource persons, Dr. Amirthaveni M., Professor and Head, Department of Food Science and Nutrition and Mr. Rajamurugan, Young Entrepreneur and promoter of organic foods and millet products. As millets can substantially lower the risk of several lifestyle diseases, the course began with the lecture on the overview of the health benefits of millets and the demonstration on more than 15 millet recipes. The recipes were healthy and had functional properties to reduce the health risks.

The workshop aimed at the multifaceted audiences from faculty, staff members and research scholars had around 40 participants. The workshop received a positive and energetic feedback from the participants who commented that it was very useful to them and should be organized regularly once a year, to promote awareness on health and good food choices.

The Food Nutrition and Health Education Center have been offering optional elective courses to B.Tech. M.Sc. Integrated Chemistry and Ph.D. students since 2012. The activities of the department emphasize the teaching lifestyle education, training on life skill for adolescence and to developing a deeper understanding and application of fundamentals and concepts of food and nutrition at different points in the span of life. Some of the research activities in the foods lab includes low cost food formulations, nutritional counseling to pregnant women, and food analysis.

Resource Persons:

Dr. Amirthaveni M. has 40 years of teaching experience and has guided over 45 projects. She had undertaken Post Doctoral Fellowship training at Asian Vegetables Research and Development Centre, AVRDC, completed 4 international projects and has been conferred with 3 best paper awards. She has also published 2 books across borders.

Mr. Rajamurugan, is a Young Entrepreneur and promoter of organic foods and millet products. He has been researching millets for over 10 years and written the book “Nallasoru” that includes 100 millet recipes. He owns a farm and cultivates millets organically near Namakal in Periyar District.